Tenement 67: Paradise 101. A Cyperpunk Larp

It’s Cyberpunk Larp time!

I need to start with a confession. I’m a long time fan of the genre. Ever since I discovered Gibsons sprawl stories pretty much as they were coming out. I have a memory or sitting in a bar with William Gibson at a Worldcon with a crowd of fans in the 80’s. I was also amazed to hear that at the time he was collecting ugly ties.

Here we are in 2019. Very close to the Cyberpunk year of 2020 and I was off to experience Tenement 67 as a 1 day event. The event was Paradise 101.

Paradise 101 had a lot of expectation to live up.

The Concept

Paradise 101 is the place to go the Tenements for entertainment. You’ll find all pleasures here. Including the ones you may not wish to witness. It’s controlled by the syndicate and is a playground for all levels in society.

Entering The Tenements

My character was one of societies super rich, Someone with unlimited money. Able to call on the resources of a major corporation by accident of birth. I wasn’t alone. 4 of the filthy rich were going to be entering the Tenements. Each of us wearing a clone body. All we had to do was have fun and spend money.

Of course there was a lot more than that going on. Story lines abounded. Yet from my perspective they in the main washed over us. Privildge became an insulating barrier. The syndicate at first did not like us. Then they fawned over us as they realised how much money we had. The misery of the disenfranchised became a toy.

Yes this was a cyberpunk.

Gunslinger battled, drugs, pleaures and experiences lined up. Neon popped through the dark and music played everywhere.

This larp dripped presence and genre style.

Was it Fun?

Absolutey. Being made part of a group frome the same background was a great idea and I take my hat off to my fellow super rich. You were awesomely awful!. Thank you.

Was it Challenging?

Very, the setting was dark and claustrophic. Lit by dim shades of green, blue and red; and the glowing clothes worn by many of the attendees. This wasn’t the crux of the challenge though. That was emotional, We were part of a trade in pain. People were being injured ; often in a harrowing fashion for our kicks. People were sharing memories and experiences in very intimate scenes.

This was the kind of larp that places in both a story and an emotional place. It’s not something were winning is tactics. The experience itself is solid and meanigful.

Also from my position I could sort of see other stories without being able to touch them. Having something tantalising around players is very smart larp writing – bravo.

The larps location

Paradise 101 was run at Grange Live Gaming in Birmingham. It was perfect. Placing us in a maze of alleyways, rooms and cubby whole. All indoors meant no sunlight. Instead we had the right kind of illumination for cyberpunk. I got turned around in the maze of it all more than once.